CALVES- Lets grow them!

[7swag]

Great thread, broski. I love those two Tibialis anterior videos you posted.

I agree, It was a great thread. I had fat calfs in 2001 but ppl would always tell me how big my calves were. They got muslclar and ripped in 2006. It took me 5 years to get my calf big and musclar. They are much bigger now than they ever been and to add, They are stronger too. So, unless you are blessed with huge calves, then the best thing to do, is work them out along with the whole body and get them strong and dont worry about how they look till they are strong

[moozkillzman]

I stick with a 6-10 rep range on calves, seems to work for me, I like the dorian yates style of training

[Acevedo85]

I stick with a 6-10 rep range on calves, seems to work for me, I like the dorian yates style of training

link?

[eva5001]

Great thread. I'm looking to add some mass to my calves. I really needed this.

[Technic]

I usually just do 4-5 sets of seated calf machine twice a week in the 10 - 20 rep range.

[Jgray1319]

When I Only worked out at home I only did seated calves. Now with my gym membership I will do all three. Thanks for the advice.

[LeeHoustonX]

Nicely Put!

[chrsschb]

I have been trying seated calf raises and I'm just not getting a good workout with them. Doesn't seem to matter what weight I use.

[kdogg3270]

I have been trying seated calf raises and I'm just not getting a good workout with them. Doesn't seem to matter what weight I use.

work up to your max weight, then do multiple drop sets. You'll feel it for a couple of days.

[bcroger2]

The majority of people i see on here and at my gym i train people, have trouble gaining size and shape to their calves must understand that there is more to training the lower leg than simply training the gastrocnemius and soleus muscle..
The Tibialis Anterior is comprised of more fast twitch fibers than the gastrocnemius and more than 3 times as much as the soleus, not only this but the calves look very impressive when viewed front on and tibialis anterior gives this impression. I believe that one of the keys to seeing results is from high rep training (12-15) combined with supersets.

Main reasons people lack lower leg growth and their potential is as follows:
* Lack full range of motion
* Insufficient rep range
* Lack of volume
* insuffient diet.
* inconsistant training

Tibialis Anterior: action- dorsi flexion ankle




Soleus: action- plantar flexion ankle


Gastrocnemius: action - plantar flexion




Good luck all on training the lower legs, consistancy in training will display results if you want it.

That last guy is fat tell that guy to do some cardio instead. Am sure he doesn't want to look like a calf.

[dalrsmith]

Good post.. was that Flash dance song in the 2nd video?

[kmabd2]

Some people naturally have very small calves, and some have naturally big ones. Genes play a significant role.

[WantToGrowYo]

Those videos really give great insight on how to build my calves in different ways ! This is my favorite thread so far

[Tyciol]

Love those tibialis moves OP, rare to see tutorials on how to target.

I'm also going to read through this http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/Cal...#anchor1929502

From what I've read Arnold prefered the donkey calf raise with another bodybuilder sitting on his hips. Guess it stretched out the entire calf the best, alowing you to hit the whole calf better. My persoanl favorite is Super-Set'd+Drop-set standing then sitting calf raises.



Looks funny but suppost to work awesome.

I think it's more an issue that an entire man weighs more than another's upper body. Leaning forward allows more of a stretch on the calf, the hands stabilize and the guy on your back is to compensate by the weight you shift to your hands while doing that stabilizing.

A poor man's alternative to this is to use your stairs. There's really no reason to bend so far over except to help the guy keep his balance on you.

[chrsschb]

work up to your max weight, then do multiple drop sets. You'll feel it for a couple of days.

I can't sit enough weight on my legs for it to matter. A stack of 45's is kind of hard to manage and a barbell with plates on it across my knees is painful.

I've thought about trying to use the smith machine and just have my buddy set the weight on my legs but that damn machine is so crowded it's not even funny. The wait time to use it is killer.

[Dumbell11]

Tibialis Anterior: action- dorsi flexion ankle

how can i do these at home?

[EroticInsanity]

Some people naturally have very small calves, and some have naturally big ones. Genes play a significant role.

have to agree with this one to a certain extent tho

[fni]

I've never been satisfied with my calves; they are like tree stubs!

I'm in the process of dropping my bf% (with the hope of also getting rid of this cankle look). But beside that, may anyone suggest me a routine that can help me define or make my calves/ankles look slimmer?

[ashur83]

Very nice post.. keep it up!

[-Lucifer]

Tibialis Anterior: action- dorsi flexion ankle
how can i do these at home?

Use bands.

[TrueQBN]

I've never been satisfied with my calves; they are like tree stubs!

I'm in the process of dropping my bf% (with the hope of also getting rid of this cankle look). But beside that, may anyone suggest me a routine that can help me define or make my calves/ankles look slimmer?

Only thing I can suggest is to keep it at the higher rep range, incorporate the workouts listed, slowly increase the volume weekly, and at some point deload.

If your BF% is high, and your working those calves and cutting now, you'll see progress when you start getting lower. Happens to me whenever I cut down after a period of falling off the wagon.

[-Lucifer]

Just thought some of you might find this useful for training the tibialis anterior.

[Webber91]

Here's a question for you guys...

I have a crazy imbalance in my gastrocnemius. The medial side is really well developed, however the more lateral part of the muscle seems really small in comparison. My right calf, although measuring the same, also looks considerably bigger than my left one. Is there any way to fix these problems or is it purely an insertion thing?

Here's what I mean (sorry, kind of hard to try and take photos to illustrate it without a self timer on my camera lol):

[-Lucifer]

^ It's your genes. There's nothing you can do.

[Iceman85]

Forgot where I got this, but if anyone is looking for a high rep calf workout to mix it up:

Standing Calf Machine or Smith Machine (Standing Raises)

Set #1 (low weight, really low weight):
15 slow reps (focus on full range of motion and squeeze at top of rep)
6-10 second break
15 fast reps (not focused on full range of motion or squeeze. Just bang em out.)

After 15 second break, repeat set #1.
After 15 second break, complete 6-8 heavy reps.
After 15 second break, repeat set #1.

1st time I did this, I could barely walk the next day.

[4one5]

.How far or close should my feet be when performing standing calf raises and donkey calf raises? What does the wideness/closeness of my feet emphasize more?

[matkat]

consistancy in training will display results if you want it

[GaGaGa_GRilla]

wow strong calves

[MichaelMcDavid]

calves are one of those muscles that have AAAAA lot to do with genetics. at my gym, we call them the antagonist muscle. its kindof a running joke in the gym about some pretty jacked dudes that have tiny calves. but from the people ive trained and for myself, the onlt thing ive ever seen that makes a difference is truly slaughtering your calves. you gotta think..they take over 1000 steps aday, they go up and doown steps everyday. you run on them, you jump on them, etc, sop they get a lot of high rep activity. AT our place we use a broom handle as a spotter and will load up a leg press machine with 4 or 5 plates on a side(or howevver much you are comfortable with) and do 6-10 reps. using the broom handle to help push if u need help on the last few reps. we do about 12 sets on our calves and normally cant hardly walk the next day, but in the past 2 years just about all of us have put an inch on our calves. we do the same kinda thing on standing calve raises, seated calf rais, etc. just go heavy heavy heavy heavy, and train your calve like a maniac and it will grow slowly but surely. best of wishes and luck brother..

[smooth5161]

I was born with tiny calves. I've got big quads, glutes, and hammies, but skinny little chicken calves. I've found the best training for my calves is to do 10x10 with about 30-40% of my normal working weight and do the sets with about 15 seconds of rest in between. I do this for both standing and seated calf raises and have seen better results then anything I've done before. This routine along with a lot of jump rope I feel is crucial to really working my calves to exhaustion and seeing some nice gains. Not a ton of size, but a lot more definition.